Gemini Ink

Diving into the Kiddie Pool: Writing for Picture Books with Diane Bertrand
2026-09-12 10:30 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Sat, Sep 12
10am-3pm CT, in-person at Gemini Ink
Nonmember: $125; Member: $108; Student/Educ/Mil: $88
*EARN CPEs; SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Do you have a family story, childhood memory, narrative poem, or concept that inspires an idea for a picture book? Let’s share a creative journey into writing for children!
In this one-day workshop, adult writers will look at storybooks and discuss what works and what doesn’t work. We’ll explore how successful children’s authors build characters, develop story arcs, create page turners, and play with language. We will discuss the balance between engaging children and impressing an editor. Then, we will revise drafts of our own work, rethinking character, structure, and vocabulary.
Bring your first draft and 1-2 picture books similar to the style you envision for your story. This course is open to writers of all skill levels, 18+.
Students will leave this class with:

A new and/or revised draft of a picture book story
An understanding of the characters, story frames and voice unique to picture books
A list of books, websites, & organizations that publish picture books

Diane Gonzales Bertrand is the author of twelve bilingual picture books including the award-winning My Pal Victor, The Party for Papá Luis, Cecilia and Miguel are Best Friends, and The Story Circle. She retired from her position as Writer-in-Residence for the English Department at St. Mary’s University in 2021. A new picture book, Music Rides the Bus, is forthcoming in 2027 from Piñata Books. (Arte Público Press, Houston, TX www.artepublicopress.com)

Writing the Difficult From a Reservoir of Love with Brian Turner
2026-09-15 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Online via Zoom
Literary Masters Lecture Series
Tue, Sep 15 & 22
6:30-8pm CT via Zoom
Nonmember: $90; Member: $75; Student/Educ/Mil: $63
*EARN CPEs;SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Join us for the first Literary Masters Lecture of the fall as we explore how to write about life’s most difficult experiences from a reservoir of love. Each session features an engaging craft talk, ready-to-use writing strategies, and a live Q&A with the author.
In this two-part intensive, award-winning poet and memoirist Brian Turner will share techniques for transforming painful experiences into meaningful, resonant writing. Through craft-focused lessons, you’ll learn how to approach challenging subjects with a broader, more grounded perspective that honors the humanity of the story. Participants will receive additional writing exercises to continue developing their work after the lecture series ends. This lecture is open to writers of all genres and skill levels 18+.
Participants will leave this lecture with:

Craft-based strategies for writing about loss and other challenging topics
A sense of what it means to sit with the art
A series of writing prompts to work on at home following the lecture

Brian Turner is the author of five collections of poetry (from Here, Bullet to The Wild Delight of Wild Things) and a memoir (My Life as a Foreign Country). He’s the editor of The Kiss and co-editor of The Strangest of Theatres. His poems and essays have been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic, and Harper’s, among other fine journals, and he was featured in the documentary Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, nominated for an Academy Award. A Guggenheim Fellow, he’s received a USA Hillcrest Fellowship in Literature, the Amy Lowell Traveling Fellowship, the Poets’ Prize, and a Fellowship from the Lannan Foundation.

Veterans' Writing Collective with Sarah Colby
2026-09-16 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-10-21 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-11-18 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-12-16 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Mexico_City) | Online via Zoom
The Veterans’ Writing Collective (VWC) encourages the art of writing in a workshop environment where participants are offered honest, positive, and constructive peer-to-peer and mentor feedback. The workshop is open to all active-duty military, veterans, retirees, and their immediate family members. Writers of all levels working in all genres are welcome.
The VWC meets monthly online via Zoom.
If you would like an invitation to this class, send an email to veteranscollective@geminiink.org

Sarah Colby was born in northern New Mexico and raised in the Rocky Mountains. She is married to a retired Army Chaplain and is mother to a son in the Navy. Sarah has an MFA in Creative Writing from Sierra Nevada College and an exuberant interest in making the ordinary luminous. Her war-time experiences have motivated her to be a voice for the mostly untold stories of families and loved ones during these years of protracted conflict. She is currently working on a manuscript of poems about her experiences as a military family member.

Teen Writing Circle with Daniel Ramirez
2026-09-26 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-10-31 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-11-28 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-12-26 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Mexico_City) | Online via Zoom
Register
Last Saturday of Every Month 12-1:30pm cst via Zoom
For ages 13-19 years old
Are you a teen who enjoys writing in their free time? Or are you someone who’s never had the chance to write on their own? If so, this Online Teen Writing Circle is for you!
In this once-a-month writing circle, teens will enjoy writing in a judgment free zone. We’ll break the ice with one another and perform various writing exercises. You are encouraged to share your work with your peers and get constructive feedback, but it is not required. Our only goal is to keep you writing!
This course is open to teen writers of any skill level.
Participants will leave the writing circle with:

New, unique written work
Listening and sharing experience
Constructive feedback to help improve their writing

Want to learn more about our Teen Writing Circle? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions!

Daniel Ramirez has been an educator for more than 15 years. After studying History in graduate school, he spent several years working in conservation programs with teenagers. His time as a Montessori educator revealed the power of combining creativity with learning and inspired him to explore his own creative practice. In addition to his longtime love of storytelling, he has developed interests in calligraphy, puppetry, poetry, and block printing. A San Antonio native, he spends his free time exploring the crystalline waters of Central Texas.

Open Writers' Labs
2026-09-28 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-10-26 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-11-30 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-12-28 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Mexico_City) | Online via Zoom
These peer-driven workshops, held the last Monday of each month, are free and open to writers of all levels and focus on poetry, flash fiction, and short creative non-fiction.

Online Via Zoom
For the online workshop, sign up the day before the class to ensure you receive the Zoom link.
This workshop is facilitated by Kevin Ramos. Originally from the northeast, Kevin studied theater arts at Rutgers University and The University of Washington. He’s lived all over the country before making his home in San Antonio, Texas. Kevin has written several novels and short stories. Most recently, publishing a short memoir called Enough about addiction, mothers, and missing graves. And a novel, Hayley’s Sense of Fire (DLG Publishing Partners), a modern re-telling of the classic fairy tale, The Little Matchgirl.

In-Person at Gemini Ink

Join our in-person Open Writer’s Lab with Robert Allen at Gemini Ink’s office, 1111 Navarro St., San Antonio, TX 78205.
Robert Allen has worked as a librarian and an electrical contractor for most of his life. Many moons ago, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied poetry under David Wevill. Allen has been active in local writer’s groups and open mics, including the Sun Poets Society. He’s been published in The Ocotillo Review, the Texas Poetry Calendar, Voices de la Luna, di-verse-city, the San Antonio Express-News, and Poetry on the Move. In 2006, he started attending Gemini Ink’s free Monday night writing classes and has attended regularly ever since. With more than a decade of attending writers’ groups, classes, and open mics, he now co-facilitates Gemini Ink’s Open Writer’s Lab.
Parking at Gemini Ink
Gemini Ink offers free parking along the back wall of our downtown offices. Please access this parking lot from Augusta St and first park in any of the 12 spots along the back wall. Only when these 12 spots are full do we ask that you park elsewhere in our lot. We now rent our offices from UTSA and are collaborating with them to create a secure and accessible parking lot for our community of writers and readers.

Poetry in Dangerous Times: From Witness to Resistance with Demetria Martínez & Dr. Norma E. Cantú
2026-10-02 10:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Sat, Oct 2
10am – 3pm CT, In-person at Gemini Ink
Nonmember: $125; Member: $108; Student/Educ/Mil: $88
*EARN CPEs; SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

The practice of poetry, both as readers and writers, is crucial during times of injustice when our creative voices are the only tool we have to demand change.
During this one-day retreat, we will explore poets who have not only borne witness to injustice, but who have done so from a place of hope and resistance–including Joy Harjo, Martin Espada, Assata Shakur, Hiba Abu Nada, Daisy Zamora, William Stafford and Susan Sherman among others. We will also read Demetria’s poem, “Nativity: For Two Salvadoran Women.” Join us as we build a “portfolio” of participants’ own work to sustain and nourish our vision and activism in these times.
Students will be invited to read their work at a Hispanic Heritage Month 2026 reading and open mic featuring Demetria Martínez and Dr. Norma E. Cantú the following day.
This course is open to writers of all skill levels, 18+.
Students will leave this course with:

Strategies for using poetry as a tool of resistance
A small collection of poetic pieces
An opportunity to share their writing at a reading the next day

Demetria Martínez is a poet, writer and immigrant rights activist born and raised in Albuquerque. Her most recent book, Poetry in Dangerous Times: Two Women, Two Worlds, was coauthored with Susan Sherman and published by Casa Urraca Press. It opens with a dialogue about art and activism among other topics and follows with a selection of poetry. Martínez’s other books include the widely translated novel, Mother Tongue (Ballantine), set in New Mexico during the Sanctuary Movement. The book was inspired by her 1987 indictment on charges of conspiracy against the United States in connection with allegedly transporting Central American refugees into the country. Martínez, a religion reporter covering the Movement for the National Catholic Reporter and the Albuquerque Journal, was facing a potential 25 years in prison. She was tried and acquitted on First Amendment grounds—but not before the government attempted to use her poetry against her. Her other books include collections of poetry, short stories and columns. She is the recipient of a Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature, an American Book Award and an International Latino Book Award. Martinez facilitates retreats, Poetry in Dangerous Times: From Witness to Resistance. She lives with her wife, their hens and goats, in La Cienega, New Mexico.
Award winning poet and author, Dr. Norma Elia Cantú was born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas to a Tejana mother and a Mexicano father. She began her academic career over fifty years ago as a teaching assistant at what is now Texas A&M University, Kingsville, where she earned her MA in English. She earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and taught at what is now Texas A&M International University in Laredo, at the University of Texas, San Antonio and the University of Missouri, Kansas City. She was at the National Endowment for the Arts in the Folk and Traditional Arts Program, and she was a visiting Director of the Chicano Studies Research Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She currently serves as the Norine R. and T. Frank Murchison Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Trinity University in San Antonio, where she teaches courses in Latinx Studies, Folklore, and Creative Writing. Her creative writing focuses on the US-Mexico Border and includes her novels Canícula and Cabañuelas as well as a poetry collection, Meditación fronteriza. She has edited and coedited over twelve anthologies. Her most recent publication is the anthology Chicana Portraits: Critical Biographies of Twelve Chicana Writers.

From Witnessing to Resisting: A Poetry Reading with Demetria Martínez & Norma E. Cantú
2026-10-03 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Join us for this Hispanic Heritage Month event where Demetria Martínez and Dr. Norma Elia Cantú will discuss poetry as resistance. A reading and community open mic will follow.

Creative Writing for Newbies with Christen Barrón
2026-10-06 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Tuesday(s), October 6, 13, 20, & 27
6:30–8:30pm CT, Hybrid (online via Zoom and in-person at Gemini Ink)
Nonmember: $200; Member: $170; Student/Educ/Mil: $140
*EARN CPEs; SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Do you want to explore creative writing but don’t know where to begin? Are you unsure if you want to try poetry, fiction, or anything else? Take this creative writing sampler for newbies and reconnect with your self expression!
In this hands-on writing workshop, participants will receive a gentle, fun introduction into creative writing and opportunities to dabble in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to see which one resonates most. This course is perfect for beginners or anyone looking to rediscover their creativity. At each interactive session, participants will generate new writing and will be encouraged to share their work with others.
This course is open to writers of all backgrounds and skill levels, 18+.
Students will leave this workshop with:

an understanding of the three main creative writing genres
new writing in three genres (poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction)
strategies and techniques for accessing creativity and overcoming writer’s block
resources for continuing a creative writing practice in any genre of choice

Christen Barrón is a creative nonfiction writer, editor, and writing instructor. Originally from Savannah, Georgia, Christen holds an M.F.A. in Writing and a B.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). She currently teaches first-year writing and creative writing at Texas A&M-University San Antonio. For nearly a decade, Christen taught community creative writing classes for The Deep Center’s nationally-recognized Young Author Project and she has served as a Teaching Artist for Gemini Ink since 2017. Christen’s writing has appeared in YARN Literary Review, Black Fox Literary Magazine, Document, and The Journal of Writing Assessment. She is a faculty supervising editor for Mosaic, a student-led literary magazine at Texas A&M-University San Antonio.

From Observation to Discovery: Writing Personal Essays on Art with Jehanne Dubrow
2026-10-10 10:00 - 14:30 (America/Chicago) | Online via Zoom
Sat, October 10
10am–2:30pm CT (with a 30-minute lunch), Online via Zoom
Nonmember: $120; Member: $100; Student/Educ/Mil: $84
*EARN CPEs; SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Sharpen your powers of observation through ekphrasis! By closely examining works of art and writing in response to them, you’ll discover new ways of seeing artwork, yourself, and the world around you. Discover how ekphrasis offers a visual springboard for unlocking stories and insights we didn’t even know existed inside of us.
In this one-day course, participants will read examples of ekphrastic writing from across genres and learn how to research the history of an art piece. Through guided writing exercises, we’ll write about our art discoveries while engaging the five senses and using concrete, specific details. Participants will then weave their description, research, and a personal experience together to generate an ekphrastic personal essay.
Students should come to class with an image of a piece of art that has personal meaning to them. This course is open to writers of all genres and skill level, 18+.
Students will leave this class with:

A first draft of an essay that engages with a work of art
An understanding of how ekphrasis can be used to break through writer’s block
Concrete strategies for blending research with personal stories

Jehanne Dubrow is the author of three books of nonfiction, ten poetry collections, and a craft book. Her book-length essay, Frivolity: A Defense, is forthcoming from Columbia University Press in fall 2026. Her writing has appeared in numerous literary journals, including New England Review, Southern Review, and Ploughshares. She is a Distinguished Research Professor and a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Texas.

LitMinds Book Club: The Awakening
2026-10-14 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Join us as we read The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

“The great power of The Awakening resides not in the answers it provides, but in the questions it exposes.” —Washington Post
“Kate Chopin . . . smoked and went hatless and played cards into the small hours; she wrote stories about venereal disease, adultery, divorce and the ‘monstrous joy’ of widowhood . . . scandalous in her own age; held up as a heroine by feminists of the Seventies.” —Observer
First published in 1899, this beautiful, brief novel so disturbed critics and the public that it was banished for decades afterward.
On vacation in Grand Isle, Louisiana, a married woman falls in love with a charming, attentive young man. The relationship spurs Edna Pontellier to explore her longing for independence and creative fulfillment. It also compels her to defy conventions, rejecting the constraints of marriage and motherhood.
First published in 1899, this beautiful, brief novel so disturbed critics and the public that it was banished for decades afterward. Now widely read and admired, The Awakening has been hailed as an early vision of women’s emancipation. This sensuous book tells of a woman’s abandonment of her family, her seduction, and her awakening to desires and passions that threatened to consumer her. Originally entitled A Solitary Soul, this portrait of twenty-eight-year-old Edna Pontellier is a landmark in American fiction, rooted firmly in the romantic tradition of Herman Melville and Emily Dickinson.

About the Author

Born and raised in St. Louis, Kate Chopin (1850-1904) moved to Louisiana to marry the son of a cotton grower. A mother of six by the age of twenty-eight and a widow at thirty-two, she turned to writing to support her young family. She is best known today for The Awakening (1899), a portrait of marriage and motherhood so controversial it fell out of print shortly after publication and was not rediscovered until the 1960s.

Visit our LitMinds page to see what we’re reading next!

Truth as a Poet's Raw Material with Kathy Fagan
2026-10-26 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Literary Masters Lecture Series
Mon, October 26
6:30–8pm CT, In-person at Gemini Ink
Nonmember: $70; Member: $60; Student/Educ/Mil: $49
*EARN CPEs; SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Join us for this special Literary Masters Lecture and learn strategies for bringing truth to your work! This event will feature an engaging craft talk, actionable writing strategies, and a live Q&A with the author.
In this lecture, award-winning poet Kathy Fagan will lead a discussion on how weaving the narrative and the lyrical, the personal and the political, the autobiographical and the historical can crystallize truth. We will explore three, often overlapping, truth-telling elements: fact-based research, documentary poetics, and deeply personal experiences. Participants will leave with craft tools they can practice on their own after the lecture.
After class, Kathy Fagan will read from her new book, The Unbecoming (W.W.Norton, 2026). The Twig Book Store will provide copies of Kathy’s book for sale.
This lecture is open to writers of all genres and skill levels 18+.
Participants will leave this class with:

Familiarity with types of truth-telling in poetry
Examples of how truth can be delivered in a poem
Strategies for composing poems with autobiographical, historical, and/or documentary-like details

Kathy Fagan’s newest collection, The Unbecoming (W.W. Norton, September 2026), is available for preorder now. Her sixth book, winner of Poetry Society of America’s William Carlos Williams Poetry Prize, is Bad Hobby (Milkweed Editions, 2022), available in print and audio. Sycamore (Milkweed, 2017) was a finalist for the 2018 Kingsley Tufts Award. Fagan is a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow, former NEA recipient, and longtime educator. You can find her in her poems, at her website, and in a very tiny olive grove in Tuscany. Her first book won The National Poetry Series in 1984. Fagan is Professor Emerita of The Ohio State University, where she co-founded and directed the MFA Program in Creative Writing while co-editing The Journal and its poetry book prize for OSU Press.

Finding Your Audience: A Guide to Book Launch Success with Violeta Garza
2026-11-03 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Online via Zoom
Tuesdays, Nov 3 & 10
6:30pm–8:30pm CT, Online via Zoom
Nonmember: $100; Member: $85; Student/Educ/Mil: $70
*EARN CPEs; SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

You published a book. Now what? Promoting your work can feel daunting if you have no marketing experience. Learn how to build a clear pre- and post-launch plan that will ensure your book finds its readers!
In this two-session workshop, we will develop your brand; craft an elevator pitch; draft promotional materials for your new or forthcoming book, or big book idea; and build a marketing plan. We will use Canva, LinkTree, Instagram, and more. If you don’t have access to any of these platforms, no worries, you can still follow along and learn. Students will have the opportunity to create their own content and receive instructor and peer feedback.
This course is for writers of all skill levels and genres with a new, imagined, or forthcoming collection of work, 18+.
As a student, you will leave this class with:

An understanding of your own brand identity
An elevator pitch that gets potential readers excited about your work
A plan of action for marketing and promoting your book in-person and online

A multilingual poet, educator, and performance doula, Violeta Garza is a classic middle child in a family of Mexican immigrants. She has performed her original poetry for Texas Public Radio, The Alamo Chapter for Human Rights, The Center for Refugee Services, and elsewhere. She is a Macondo Writers Workshop fellow, a Pushcart Prize nominee, a Nine Syllables Press Chapbook Contest semifinalist, and a Top Ten Debut Latine Author of 2025 on LatinoStories.com. Her bilingual collection of poetry, BRAVA, was published by First Matter Press, and was featured on New York University’s Latinx Project list La Treintena: 30 Books of Latinx Poetry for 2026. For more info, please visit violetagarza.com.

LitMinds Book Club: The Death of Ivan Ilych & Spare Room
2026-11-11 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Join us as we discuss The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy and Spare Room by Helen Garner.

November’s LitMinds selections pair two remarkable works that explore illness, mortality, and the relationships that shape our lives—one a timeless classic, the other a modern literary masterpiece.
The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
A masterpiece of world literature, The Death of Ivan Ilych follows a respected judge who, faced with a terminal illness, is forced to confront the life he has built—and the life he may have missed. At once unsettling and deeply compassionate, Tolstoy’s novella explores mortality, meaning, and the search for authenticity with remarkable clarity. More than a century after its publication, it remains one of the most profound reflections on what it means to truly live.
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) is one of the world’s most celebrated novelists, best known for War and Peace and Anna Karenina. His works continue to shape conversations about literature, philosophy, and the human condition.

Spare Room by Helen Garner
In Spare Room, acclaimed Australian writer Helen Garner tells the story of two longtime friends brought together under difficult circumstances when one arrives seeking alternative cancer treatment. What begins as an act of generosity becomes a powerful exploration of friendship, caregiving, hope, and the emotional complexities of loving someone through illness. Written with honesty and emotional precision, Spare Room is both intimate and unforgettable.
Helen Garner is one of Australia’s most acclaimed contemporary writers, known for her novels, essays, and nonfiction. Her work is celebrated for its psychological insight, moral complexity, and beautifully restrained prose.

Visit our LitMinds page to see what we’re reading next!

Fun with Forms: An Intermediate Poetry Workshop with Jonathan Fletcher
2026-11-30 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Mondays, Nov 30 & Dec 7, 14, & 21
6:30–8:30pm CT, In-person at Gemini Ink
Nonmember: $200; Member: $170; Student/Educ/Mil: $140
*EARN CPEs; SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Are you a poet with a regular writing practice? Are you looking for new craft tools to add to your poetic toolbox? Join us for this intermediate workshop and dive deep into form poetry!
In this four-week class, we will review the history of poetry, study contemporary poets and their craft, and explore advanced poetic forms, including ghazal, pantoum, sestina, sonnet, and more. Using these new texts and forms for inspiration, we will write and give poetic shape to our own experiences and dreams. Participants will receive light feedback and resources to keep them writing.
This course is open to poets with a regular writing practice, 18+.
Students will leave this class with:

Knowledge of intermediate contemporary poetry and craft tools
Drafts of work generated from class readings, discussions, and prompts
Resources and materials to further their own study and poetic work

Jonathan Fletcher holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Columbia University School of the Arts. His work has been featured in numerous literary journals and magazines, and he has won or placed in various literary contests. A Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Microfiction nominee, he won Northwestern University Press’s Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize contest in 2023, for which his debut chapbook, This is My Body, was published in 2025. Currently, he serves as a Zoeglossia Fellow and lives in San Antonio, Texas.
